Research Position Statement

Middle- and long-term research in information science will be confronted with two main challenges:

1. an increasing complexity of information in terms of quantity and quality and
2. an increasing need for collaboration and communication on all geographical levels (co-located, local, regional, national, international).

Research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is addressing these challenges in several ways, for instance with ubiquitous and social computing, convergent information and communication technology (ICT) devices and pervasive computing.
We are facing these challenges with the following research streams:

1. Design and development of advanced, three-dimensional user interfaces (3DUI), mainly grounded on theories on embodied interaction and ecological perception utilising technologies like Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality as well as perceptual and tangible user interfaces.
2. Applied science research in computer-mediated communication (CMC) emphasising effectivenes, efficiency and enjoyment of collaboration.
3. Definition and implementation of a convergence of 3DUI and CMC towards future tele-collaboration, where one driving force is a scenario describing the simulation and enhancement of today's face-to-face meetings incorporating co-located and remote participants.

Methodologically our research can be grouped into four areas of activities: (1) application, development and evaluation of theories, (2) development and test of technologies, (3) design and evaluation of empirical studies and finally (4) contributions to the sciences (findings by application as well as search for and explanation of truth (like Virtual Reality does for the explanation of Reality))

Project Pages

[CALT RUT project]: Non-Verbal Communication Cues in Remote Teacher-Student Situations.
[MARCUS project]: Mobile Augmented Reality and Context in Urban Settings.
[ORG AMB project]: Augmented Reflection Technology (ART).
[ORG Serious Games project]: Sketcharoo.